Dragonfly Inspired Nanocomposite Flapping Wing for Micro Air Vehicles

The current research is aimed towards the development of dragonfly inspired nanocomposite flapping wing for micro air vehicles (MAVs). The wing is designed by taking inspiration from the hind wing of dragonfly (Anax Parthenope Julius). Carbon nanotubes (CNTs)/polypropylene nanocomposite and low-density polyethylene are used as the wing materials. The nanocomposites are developed with varying CNTs' weight percentage (0% - 1%) and characterized for dynamic mechanical properties, which revealed that the 0.1 weight percentage case produces highest storage modulus values throughout the frequency range (1 Hz - 90 Hz). It is also observed that the storage modulus values are in the range of Young's modulus of veins and membrane of natural insect wings. This is useful to achieve true biomimicking. Advanced manufacturing technique such as photolithography is used for wing fabrication. The length, weight and average thickness of the fabricated wing are similar to 44 mm, 26.22 mg and 187 mu m, respectively. The structural dynamic properties of the fabricated wing are obtained experimentally and computationally using DIC and ANSYS, respectively. The developed dragonfly inspired wing showed a natural frequency of 29.4 Hz with a bending mode shape which is close to the characteristic frequency of its natural counterpart.